Winman has eyes on postseason

BATTLE: Winman’s Alison Pankowicz fights for the ball.

(Photo by Alex Sponseller)

BEST FOOT FORWARD: Winman’s Isabelle LaFontaine battles against a Chariho player for possession last week at the soccer fields at the Bend St. Complex in Warwick. The Chargers caught fire in the second half to propel their way to a big 4-0 shutout win over the Warriors. Despite falling to 1-2 on the season, Winman is still hopeful that it can qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

(Photo by Alex Sponseller)

Posted
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 2:00 pm

By Alex Sponseller

The Winman girls soccer team fell to the visiting Chariho Chargers 4-0 last week at the Bend St. fields in Warwick.

The Warriors kept pace with the Chargers in the first half, trailing just 1-0 after a tight opening 30 minutes. However, Chariho would catch fire in the final 20 minutes and put away three goals to sail to the victory.

“The first half we held our own but in the second we tired a little bit. They had a couple of kids that did a lot of damage (offensively), but I thought their defense did a good job of shutting us down,” said Winman coach Keith Randall after the loss.

One bright spot for the Warriors in the loss was keeper Rachel Moretti, who recorded four saves in the opening half to help keep Winman afloat against the aggressive Chariho attack.

“Rachael is a great goalie and she really will put her body on the line,” said Winman coach Jen Randall.

2018 marks Winman’s third season as a program since middle school sports were reintroduced to Rhode Island. Keith Randall and the Warriors hope to return to the playoffs after missing out last year by just one game.

“Down the road our goal is to finish in the top six of our 10-team division. This is the third year for Winman, first year we made the playoffs and last year we missed by just one game. We lost a couple of games 1-0 where if things changed a little bit things would have gone the other way. We’re looking to get back to the playoffs. We need to win next game to get to .500 then hopefully win one or two more and put ourselves in position,” said Keith Randall. “We have a lot of eight graders, this is their last year and they would love to get there.”

One of the advantages that the Warriors have this season as well as upcoming seasons is depth. Winman has 27 players on the roster, with 11 returners and a large core of eight graders

“We had 11 kids return this year which is good because we want to make sure that once (the eighth graders) leave, we’ll have a good core coming back,” said Jen Randall. “We’ve seen some good things from the younger players and it’s nice to see those young kids step up.”

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